Glencolumcille, or in the Gaelic, has been a religious site for over 5,000 years. It was one of earliest Christian sites in Europe, dating to the sixth century. The landscape around the village is dotted with ancient sites from the neolithic period, but the Christians turned the landscape into a stations of the cross, based […]
Gothic Travel
The best in haunted travel tips
To hell with Holiday Inn and Applebees. These haunted hotels, bed and breakfasts, inns and pubs ooze character and are often a better value than the chains. This isn’t paranormal investigation. It’s where to go to feel the kind of atmosphere where you can believe anything can happen at any moment. And get a pint and a great bacon cheeseburger in the process. Pick a category below, or browse by region to the right and start exploring the macabre side of travel.
The haunted house is the bedrock of gothic horror. Luckily, historic homes that are open to the public often have their own ghosts. With others you can be content standing outside in the dark of night, peering up at the darkened upstairs corner window. Public buildings of the past aren’t without their own charms, and quite often their own spirits.
So you want to sleep with the spirits? Looking for a room with its own ghost? The bogeyman under the bed? What hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts give the most chills for the buck? Wanna sleep like the dead? Haunted accommodations can be found here …
I like spirits of all sorts, and luckily there is a plethora of haunted pubs, inns and restaurants where you can indulge in both. Whether you’re looking for top shelf spirits, or you’re more of a fish and chips and pint type of traveler, you’ll find a bit of both in here.
“Out, out, brief candle,” were the words put into the mouth of Lady Macbeth when she spoke on death. Death is the ultimate misery, the ultimate curiosity and it’s something we all face. Some run, some embrace the thought. You find us loitering in cemeteries on moonlit nights. These are places where death has stained the landscape black.
Some towns and cities are more haunted than others. From the free for all weirdness of Salem, to the genteel southern charm of the ghosts of Charleston, South Carolina, a spooky town can keep you entertained for days. Herein is a guide to some of the creepier towns, villages and cities that make for curious destinations.
We needn’t always wander alone in search of chills. From the over the top, ghastly thrills of Horseman’s Hollow, to the more traditional Legend of Sleepy Hollow recanted in the very same Old Dutch Church, to the horrors of our fellow man in Cry Innocent in Salem, there are plenty of opportunities to sit back and be entertained. Or if you’re feeling energetic, how about a ghost walk?
At Monkton Farleigh, the ghost of a very thirsty monk
There once stood a priory in the village of Monkton Farleigh, in Wiltshire. This small village is blessed, or cursed with a handful of hauntings. The building above, built in the eleventh century was a conduit for water to run to the priory, which now sits in ruins near the site. It is said that […]
The Daily Ramble: The River Chew at Pensford, Somerset
The village of Pensford is in Somerset, Great Britain. We stumbled upon it in search of the Stanton Drew stone circles, and were mesmerized by this view. A great flood of the River Chew in 1968 damaged the railroad viaduct in the background so extensively it never reopened. Also damaged was the St Thomas […]
Eating Poe, Part II: Edgar Allan Poe’s time on Sullivan’s Island and debunking a Charleston myth
I wake up before dawn and heard the ocean outside. The dunes separate the beach house from the sea itself, but not the smell of the ocean, nor the pounding of the surf, a dull thud, without the crackle and sizzle of the foam. The sky is beginning to lighten, I get dressed and grab […]
Eating Poe: Part One, Richmond and an Author’s Forward
Poe stands for every fucked up soul who wandered a graveyard on a dark and lonely night. For every person who has grieved to the point of madness, and who can draw a line between dread and fear with a sharp point pen. Poe is the beacon of darkness, the one who first reached the […]
Answering Glastonbury’s call
I’M SITTING OUTSIDE AT THE MOCHA BERRY CAFE, talking to Vickie Steward, author of one of the most eclectic blogs out there, about one of the most eclectic towns in Britain, Glastonbury. Normal For Glastonbury is the blog, and Vickie has the enviable job of documenting the goings on in this peculiar little place. A […]
Climbing Glastonbury Tor in search of the divine
“Avalon will always be there for all men to find if they can seek the way thither, throughout all the ages past the ages. If they cannot find the way to Avalon, it is a sign, perhaps, that they are not ready.” ― Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon + + + I came […]
Hanging out amongst the spirits at Glastonbury’s George and Pilgrim Hotel
It easier than you’d think to have a nap on High Street in Glastonbury. Young, dreadlocked people do it quite a lot. Older dreadlocked or pony tailed people do it as well. I wanted a bed. The best place to find a place to stay in Glastonbury is the Tribunal on High Street. Actually the accommodation […]
A Visit to Gog and Magog in the Glastonbury Zodiac, and A Spell For The Protection From Anger
I took off from the George and Pilgrim Hotel about ten in the morning. I was really kind of excited to be getting out of there. It’s moody and dark, which I love. But I needed the light. I had light for the first block I walked up High Street. It’s not that steep of […]
Searching for the sacred at Glastonbury’s Chalice Well, the pilgrim and the grail quest meet in a place of legend
Bubbling up from the base of Glastonbury Tor are two springs which arguably give Glastonbury much of its renown. The sacred, the myths and legends of what is often called England’s most holy ground has its epicenter in the flowing waters found here. It’s long been my belief that the truth of a place can’t be found […]
